SAP's Cresanti Moves to IFA

Thu., Mar. 20, 2014

Robert Cresanti, VP-corporate affairs & government relations at SAP America, is moving to the International Franchise Assn. on April 14 as executive VP/government relations & public policy.

He will be responsible for communication initiatives, grassroots outreach and political action committee oversight.

Cresanti, who held the SAP slot since 1989, also served as under secretary for technology at the Dept. of Commerce.

He headed various trade missions to the European Union, Asia and Russia and co-chaired the President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology.

From 2001 to 2006, Cresanti was VP-global public policy for the Business Software Alliance and senior VP-general counsel for ITAA, which is now TechAmerica.

Prior to joining SAP, he was CEO of IPXI, the Intellectual Property Exchange. Steve Caldeira, CEO of IFA, said the new hire “brings a wealth of government, corporate and trade association leadership” to the organization.

There are more than 825K franchise units in the U.S, generating more than $2T in economic output and employing 18M people.